KODAH

Going out was not as much fun and distraction as she had hoped. Sophie hated to admit but she couldn't ignore her thoughts, fears and worries. Worse, now she worried about what was wrong with Kate. She had looked worse than her father, which told Sophie there was something going on in the Kane family, something that haunted them. First, she had thought it was the alleged accusations that the Crows had tampered evidence, however, this would not make Kate look the way she did. It had to be something else, something personal.

Alice.

This psychopath was trouble and if anybody could make Kate look this lost and shocked it had to be her twin sister. The one with with the doppelgänger killed in front of Sophie's eyes. She still couldn't get over this story, still couldn't believe it. If Batwoman hadn't asked her not to kill Alice, she had killed the woman, who apparently wasn't who they all believed she was. Had Batwoman known about the doppelgänger? Was that why she had asked Sophie not to shoot Alice? Why did Batwoman care? What was the connection between the fighter for what was right and a psychopathic serial killer?

It seemed like the more she thought about things the more questions popped up. Why couldn't she find answers for a chance?

A quiet whimper made her stop. What was that? Sophie pulled her phone out and turned on the flashlight. The alley lay dark in front of her, nothing moved. Was somebody hiding somewhere? Or left injured? Or was this a trap and she was falling for it?

There. The sound was back. Definitely a whimper. Somebody was injured, needed help.

The evening in the storehouse came back to her mind. When she had followed Batwoman, when they had heard the screams of the hostages by the executor and then all they found was a sound system - and loaded rifles. Rifles, that had shot the moment the detective entered the storehouse. She had been in the line of fire, Batwoman had saved her, had taken her to Mary's hospital. That night, she had been sure Kate was Batwoman. It had made sense, it still did because of the way Sophie was drawn to Batwoman, the way she had felt when they had kissed. But she had seen Kate and Batwoman in the same room, Kate couldn't be Batwoman.

The whimper came out of the dumpster. Sophie took a deep breath. If this was a trap, she was about to be caught and could only hope Batwoman was still watching over her, saving her. She pushed the lit up and shone her flashlight into the dumpster. First, there was nothing, no person, no sound system. Only garbage, very smelly garbage. Then, when she was about to lower the lit, she saw a movement. There was somebody. Something. Her flashlight caught two eyes, that shone greenishly. A cat? No, this was not a cat, it was a puppy. A gray puppy with huge, terrified eyes.

"Don't be afraid, nothing will happen to you." Sophie pushed the lit up and stepped closer to reach into the dumpster. When she was bitten now she had to see Mary again because you never knew what a stray dog carried inside.

"I'm going to get you out of there, please do not be afraid, don't bite me, I want to help you. How did you end up in there? You are way too small to have climbed in it." Sophie held her flashlight in a way that didn't blind the puppy. Carefully she stretched out her hand, touched the puppy. It shrieked like she had slapped it, its eyes wide open until there was almost only white to see.

"It's okay, you are going to be all right. Nobody will hurt you."

The poor thing, what had happened to it that it was so afraid to be touched? Who had tortured it?

"I'm sorry but I have to touch you, otherwise we don't get you out of here." She put her phone aside to have both hands free. The darkness made it difficult to see the puppy. Slowly she reached for where she thought the puppy was.

"Ouch!" The sharp teeth confirmed she had found the puppy. As soon as her hand touched the fur the puppy shrieked again. Sophie took a deep breath, ignored the shrieking and lifted the puppy up. Instead of biting her again, fighting her, it only shrieked.

"What was done to you?" She lifted it out of the dumpster and kept it in her arm, pressing it carefully to her chest, mumbling soothing words. "We need to get you checked out, my poor friend. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you, you are safe and I will keep you safe." She kept the puppy in her arms. Where was the nearest vet? As she had never owned a pet, she had never cared where they were. All she knew was where clinics for humans were and…Mary's clinic. Before she wasted time on going to vets, who might send her away, she could go to Mary. As a future doctor, she should be able to see if the puppy needed help or if it was only psychological sick. Not that this wasn't bad enough.

"You are going to get checked out by a special doctor now, she will help you if there is anything you need. And tomorrow, I will take you to a vet, have you checked out again."

The shrieks got quieter, the puppy still trembled like it was cold and tried to make itself as small as possible. Somebody had treated this poor dog poorly, had hurt it and now it was broken. Kind of as Sophie was broken after the conversation with her mother. Maybe she needed the puppy as much as the puppy needed somebody. They could comfort each other, take care of each other. Hell knew Sophie did need some friends and somebody to rely on.

Yes, I'm #TeamKodah because she is so cute. So I had to add her to the story and maybe Sophie gets a dog in the series, too.